Striker head for a pile driving hydraulic hammer

ABSTRACT

A striker head ( 16 ) has a tool joint ( 14 ) at one end for connecting it to a box joint portion ( 12 ) of a vibratory hydraulic hammer ( 10 ). The second end of the striker head ( 16 ) is adapted to engage an end of a H-beam pile ( 20 ) which is composed of spaced apart, substantially parallel flanges ( 22, 24 ) and an interconnecting web ( 26 ) that extends perpendicular to the flanges ( 22, 24 ). The striker section ( 30 ) of the striker head ( 16 ) includes a slot ( 38 ) in which a portion of the web ( 26 ) is received and recesses ( 40, 42 ) at the opposite ends of the slot ( 38 ) in which the flanges ( 22, 24 ) are received.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to pile driving hydraulic hammers. Moreparticularly, it relates to a striker head for adapting a hydraulichammer to drive an H-beam pile that is composed of a pair of spacedapart, parallel flanges interconnected by a web that is perpendicular tothe flanges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,664, granted Dec. 27, 1994, to Michael M. McDowelland Eugene A. Matthews, relates to a pile driving machine and method.The pile driving machine includes a hydraulic hammer that engages anddelivers blows to a pile for driving the pile into the ground. Theentire contents of U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,664 are incorporated herein bythis specific reference.

There is a need for a striker head for adapting a hydraulic hammer sothat it can engage and drive a H-beam pile. A principal object of thepresent invention is to fill this need.

Herein the term H-beam pile includes piles made from I-beams and pilesmade from wide flange beams.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A striker head constructed according to the present invention has afirst end adapted to connect to a hydraulic hammer and a second endadapted to engage the upper end of a H-beam pile. The second end of thestriker head includes a slot that receives an end portion of the pileweb and opposite side portions which fit between the two pile flanges onopposite sides of the pile web when the pile web is within the slot. Theopposite side portions have recesses at opposite ends of the slot inwhich end portions of the flanges of the H-beam are received. Therecesses and slot have substantially co-planar base surfaces whichconfront an end of the H-beam pile.

Preferably, the opposite side portions of the second end of the strikerhead have substantially parallel confronting slot forming surfacesbetween which the pile web receiving slot is formed. The slot formingsurfaces are substantially parallel to the base surfaces.

Preferably also, the opposite side portions of the second end of thestriker head have substantially planar faces that are a parallel to eachother and perpendicular to the base surfaces and the slot formingsurfaces.

In preferred form, the striker head comprises a stem section thatincludes the first end of the striker head, a striker section thatincludes the second end of the striker head, and a transition sectionbetween the stem section and the striker section. The stem section has afirst diameter. The striker section has a larger second diameter. Thetransition section progressively increases in diameter from the stemsection to the striker section.

In preferred form, the striker head has a cylindrical pin at its firstend that is adapted to mate with a box that is a part of the hydraulichammer. The stem includes side flats adapted to receive lock bars, thatare provided for connecting the striker head to the hammer.

In one embodiment, the pile contacting end of the striker head comprisesfour projections that are separated by perpendicular slots. Theprojections have four substantially flat sides. This construction allowsa single striker head to be connected to a pile by rotating it no morethan 90°. When the striker head is positioned to receive the web of thepile in a first of the two slots, the striker head need only be rotatedanother 90° in order to put the web in the second slot in the second endof the striker head.

Other features and advantages of the present invention can be seen andunderstood by examination of the drawings, the description of theillustrated embodiment, the claims, and the principles that areexemplified by the structure that is illustrated and described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Like reference numerals are used throughout the several views of thedrawing, and:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a striker head taken from above andlooking down towards the top and one side of the striker head, such viewincluding a schematic showing of a hydraulic hammer and a box jointcomponent which it includes, and further showing an end portion of anH-beam pile which is adapted to be engaged by the lower end of thestriker head;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the striker head shown by FIG. 1,FIG. 2 looking toward one end of a pile web receiving slot that isformed in the striker section of the striker head;

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2, but looking perpendicular to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a somewhat schematic longitudinal sectional view of theportion of the housing for the hammer that receives the upper endportion of the striker head, such view showing the upper end portion ofthe striker head in elevation and showing two lock blocks positionedbetween flats on the upper end portion of the striker head andconfronting portions of the housing;

FIG. 5 is an end view looking toward the end of the striker section ofthe striker head;

FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 5, including a solid line showing of a firstpile and a broken line showing of a second pile;

FIG. 7 is a view like FIG. 1 of a modified form of the striker head;

FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 3 of the modified striker head shown by FIG.7;

FIG. 9 is a view like FIG. 4, but of the striker head shown by FIGS. 7and 8; and

FIG. 10 is a view like FIG. 6, but of the striker head shown by FIGS.7-9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a vibratory hydraulic hammer 10 is shownschematically and is shown to include a box 12 that is adapted forreceiving a pin 14 that is at a first end of a striker head 16. Thestriker head 16 includes flats 18 provided for receiving lock bars 19that connect the striker head 16 to the output portion of the hydraulichammer 10. The hydraulic hammer may be of a type that is manufactured byBTIC and disclosed at www.rockbreaker.com. This hydraulic hammer 10 maybe supported in any number of ways, including by a mast structure suchas shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,664. What is important is that thehydraulic hammer 10 be adapted to engage an end of an H-beam pile 20 andbe positionable for driving the pile 20 into the ground.

As shown by FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the H-beam pile has a pair of spacedapart, substantially parallel flanges 22, and an interconnecting web 26.Flanges 22, 24 are substantially parallel to each other and aresubstantially perpendicular to the web 26. The flanges 22, 24 and theweb 26 may vary in thickness and width. The striker head of the presentinvention is adapted to be used with a range of sizes of H-beam 20.

As shown by FIGS. 1-3 and 5, the striker head 16 has a stem section 28and striker section 30. The pin 14 is a part of the stem section 28 andthe striker section 30 includes a slot and side recesses for receivingan end portion of the H-beam 20. As illustrated, the stem section 28 hasa first diameter and the striker section 30 has a larger seconddiameter. A transition section 32 between the stem section 28 and thestriker section 30 progressively increases in diameter from the stemsection 28 to the striker section 30.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, the striker section 30 has a pair of spacedapart side portions 34, 36 which define a web receiving slot 38 betweenthem. Side portions 34, 36 have side faces 40, 42 and 44, 46 outwardlyof which are defined recesses 48, 50. The side faces 40, 42 are inco-planar parallelism and the side faces 44, 46 are in co-planarparallelism. The side faces 40, 42 are in spaced parallelism with sidefaces 44, 46. The side portions 34, 36 includes confronting slot formingsurfaces 52, 54 which are parallel to each other and perpendicular tothe side faces 40, 42 and 44, 46. The striker section 30 has asubstantially flat base 56 that includes the bottoms of the recesses 48,50 and the bottom of the slot 38. Base surface 56 is in a radial planeperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the striker head.

In FIG. 5, the width dimension of the side portions 34, 36 is labeled l.The diameter of the striker section 30 is labeled d. The width of theslot 38 is labeled w. All of these dimensions may vary. For a givenstriker, the dimensions d, l, w may be chosen so that the striker head16 can be used for a plurality of sizes of H-beam piles 20. This isshown by FIG. 6 in which a first pile 20 is shown in solid lines and asecond pile 20′ is shown in broken lines. As can be seen, the secondpile 20′ has a wider web 26 and narrower flanges 22, 24 than the secondpile 20′. Also, several sizes of striker head 16 may be provided forincreasing the number of sizes of H-beam piles 20 that can be driven bythe pile driver.

By way of typical and therefore non-limitive example, the total lengthdimension of the illustrated striker head 16 may be twenty-four inches.The diameter of the striker section 30 may be eight inches. The depth ofthe slot 38 may be two and one half inches and the width of the slot maybe one and one quarter inches. The stem section diameter may be aboutfour inches.

A modified embodiment of the striker head 16′ it is substantially likestriker head 16 except for the construction of the lower portion thatengages the piling. As best shown by FIGS. 9 and 10, two slots 60, 62are provided. This divides the projecting portions of the strikersection 30′ which project below the base surface 56′ into four parts 64,66, 68, 70. Part 64 has outer surfaces 72, 74 and inner surfaces 76, 78.Part 66 has outer surfaces 80, 82 and inner surfaces 84, 86. Part 68 hasouter surfaces 88, 90 and inner surfaces 92, 94. Part 70 has outersurfaces 94, 96 and inner surfaces 98, 100. The surfaces 78, 100 and 84,92 define the slot 60. The surfaces 76, 86 and 94, 98 form the secondslot 62. As shown by FIG. 10, this construction allows the placement ofthe striker head 30′ in two positions relative to the piling 20. In oneposition, the web 26 is within the slot 60 and the flanges 22, 24 areoutwardly of the surfaces 90, 96 and 74, 80, respectively. In the secondposition, the web 26 is in the slot 62 and the flanges 22, 24 areoutwardly of the surfaces 72, 94 and 82, 88 respectively.

The advantage of the striker head 16′ is that it generally requires amovement of the machine that supports the hydraulic hammer 10 and thestriker head 16′ by no more than about 45° about the longitudinal axisof the striker 16′. When the striker 16 is used, the machine maysometimes have to be moved in position about 90° along the longitudinalaxis of the striker head 16. In both designs, when the striker head 16,16′ is setting on the pile 20, the hydraulic hammer 10 is operated toimpose a driving force on the upper end of the pile 20, which moves thepile 20 downwardly into the ground.

FIG. 4 shows the upper end portion of a striker head 16, 16′ positionedwithin a lower housing portion 102 of the hydraulic hammer 10. Lock barsare positioned between the flats 18 and confronting surfaces 106 oninner portions of the housing part 102. As can be seen by FIG. 4, theplacement of the lock bars 104 in the recesses formed outwardly of thesurfaces 18 serves to lock the striker head 16, 16′ against bothrotation and endwise movement out from the housing 102. Additionalinformation about this manner of holding the striker head 16, 16′ insidethe housing of the hammer 10 can be obtained from Breaker Technology,Inc., having a West Coast address at 3464 Dupanart Street, Riverside,Calif. 92507 and a East Coast address at 30625 Solon IndustriousParkway, Coinno, Ohio 44139. The hydraulic hammer 10 is pusheddownwardly by its supporting mast and it in turn pushes the basesurfaces against the upper end surfaces of the piling while the internalmechanism in the hydraulic hammer 10 is operating to apply a drivingforce on the piling 20, 20′.

The illustrated embodiment is only an example of the present inventionand, therefore, is non-limitive. It is to be understood that manychanges in the particular structure, materials and features of theinvention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Therefore, it is my intention that my patent rights not belimited by the particular embodiments that are illustrated and describedherein, but rather are to be determined by the following claims,interpreted according to accepted doctrines of patent claiminterpretation.

1. A striker head for a hydraulic hammer that is adapted to engage anend of an H-beam pile that is composed of a pair of spaced apart,parallel flanges interconnected by a web that is perpendicular to theflanges, said striker head comprising: a first end adapted to connect toa hydraulic hammer and a second end adapted to engage an end of theH-beam pile; said second end of the striker head having a slot thatreceives an end portion of the pile web and opposite side portions whichfit between the two pile flanges on opposite sides of the pile web whenthe pile web is within the slot, said opposite side portions havingrecesses at opposite ends of the slot in which end portions of theflanges of the H-beam are received; and said recesses and said slothaving substantially co-planar base surfaces which confront the upperend surface of the H-beam pile.
 2. The striker head of claim 1, whereinthe opposite side portions of the second end of the head havesubstantially parallel confronting slot forming surfaces between whichthe pile web receiving slot is formed, said slot forming surfaces beingsubstantially perpendicular to the base surfaces.
 3. The striker head ofclaim 2, wherein the opposite side portions of the second end of thestriker head have substantially planar faces that are parallel to eachother and perpendicular to the base surfaces and the slot formingsurfaces.
 4. The striker head of claim 1, comprising a stem section thatincludes the first and of the striker head and a striker section thatincludes the second end of the striker head and a transition sectionbetween the stem section and the striker section.
 5. The striker head ofclaim 4, wherein the stem section has a first diameter, the strikersection has a larger second diameter and the transition sectionprogressively increases in diameter from the stem section to the strikersection.
 6. The striker head of claim 1, comprising a pin at the firstend of the striker head adapted to mate with a complementary box jointthat is a part of the hammer.
 7. The striker head of claim 7, comprisinga stem section that includes a first end of the striker head and astriker section that includes the second end of the striker head and atransition section between the stem section and the striker section. 8.The striker head of claim 7, wherein the stem section has a firstdiameter, the striker section has a larger second diameter and thetransition section progressively increases in diameter from the stemsection to the striker section.
 9. The striker head of claim 6, whereinthe opposite side portions of the second end of the striker head havesubstantially parallel confronting slot forming surfaces between whichthe pile web receiving slot is formed, said slot forming surfaces beingsubstantially perpendicular to the base surfaces.
 10. The striker headof claim 9, wherein the opposite side portions of the second end of thestriker head have substantially planar faces that are parallel to eachother and are perpendicular to the base surfaces and the slot formingsurfaces.
 11. The striker head of claim 1, wherein said second end has apair of slots that cross each other, each said slot being constructed toreceive the web of the H-beam piling, said second end of the strikerhead having opposite side recesses at the opposite ends of both slots inwhich end portions of the flanges of the H-beam are received, saidrecesses and said slots having substantially co-planar base surfaceswhich confront the upper end surface of the H-beam pile.